U.S. Congresswoman Mazie Hirono is leading a delegation of representatives from Virginia, Mississippi and California on a mission in Iraq to obtain first-hand information on the progress being made on the war on terror.

In an phone call from Iraq this morning, Hirono first and foremost wanted to extend her sympathy to the family of Lt. Col. Max Galeai, the commanding officer who died Thursday in an attack that killed two other Kane'ohe Marines. Galeai commanded a Hawai'i-based battalion of more than 1,000 Marines.

"First I wish to extend my condolences to the family," Hirono said. "I found out the circumstances of their death today on my travels to Fallujah today."

Galeai, 42, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines at Kane'ohe's Marine Corps Base Hawai'i, is believed to have been killed in the town of Karmah in Anbar province, about 30 miles west of Baghdad, in a suicide bomb attack. Also killed in the attack were Capt. Phil Dykeman, 38, of New York, the leader of the battalion's Fox Company, and 23-year-old Cpl. Marcus W. Preudhomme, of North Miami Beach, Fla.

On Saturday, the al-Qaida militant group in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack in Anbar province.

In her first visit to Iraq, Hirono said she spent the day _ Iraq is 13 hours ahead of Hawai'i _ receiving briefings from the state department and U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd James Austin III, commander of the 28th Airborne Corps 10th Mountain Division and the Multi-National Corps - Iraq Commander and other state department officials.

"It's been a busy day," Hirono said.

Hirono represents the 2nd Congressional district, which includes the north and west sections of O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands. She said she will return to Honolulu on Thursday, before Congress resumes on July 8.

As of May 2008, 4,078 American military personnel have been killed, with more than 3,100 as a result of enemy action. The remainder were killed in non-hostile incidents including a small number of drownings, illnesses and electrocutions, but mostly vehicle and weapon accidents.

Galeai and the other two Marines are the first fatalities of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines in this deployment, which started in February. The battalion is set to return in August.

Since the war started, 84 Hawai'i-based Marines and sailors have died in Iraq.

"In all of our briefings, we've been told that there's a lessening of violence in Iraq, but you can still have things like the tragic death of our three Marines," Hirono said. "I don't think we've turned the corner yet."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8060.